Not keen to play DRM?s jasoos!

THE MUCH-HYPED idea of ?making jasoos? out of porters seems to have come a cropper. The porters of the Charbagh Railway Station showing no interest in the idea. DRM (NR) R K Gupta had announced that the railways would take the help of the porters in dealing with anti-social elements soon after the Mumbai blasts.

THE MUCH-HYPED idea of “making jasoos” out of porters seems to have come a cropper. The porters of the Charbagh Railway Station showing no interest in the idea. DRM (NR) R K Gupta had announced that the railways would take the help of the porters in dealing with anti-social elements soon after the Mumbai blasts.

The idea suggested that the DRM was supposed to hold a series of meetings with the porters, and also award them if they provided valuable information pertaining to the safety and security of the passengers. But, even after three four months of the plan, the move seems to have not taken off as the porters of the Charbagh railway station have been showing least interest in parting with the information.

“We do not know what to do, and how to help officials unless and until they themselves explain us,” says a porter. As regards the award in return of information, he retorts, ask the railways implement the welfare measures first that had been announced by the minister for railways.

However, another porter says they are a harassed lot at the hands of the GRP and RPF. “Why do they expect us to share information?” he asked. It is true that the security personnel and the porters at the Charbagh Railway station have been at loggerheads. The porters have been alleging that the GRP men have been targeting them for no reason. But the GRP’s version is that they themselves are law-breakers.

However, divisional railway manager R K Gupta says that the security personnel have been asked to hold meetings with the porters. There have been a couple of meetings with the RPF men, but so far no information worth award has been given by the porters. The main cause for giving the task of sharing information to porters was that they are available round-the-clock at the station, and also have an idea about the movement of visitors to the station.